His eyes flashed, a decided challenge in those dark depths.“War waits for no man, or woman.Do you have a problem with your assignment?Or more pressing matters to attend to?”
Drawing a fortifying breath, she set her jaw.“That is not what I meant, and I do not appreciate you twisting my words around to suit your purpose.You might believe yourself superior to me in spite of a mere accident of birth, but I can assure you that we both use the privy when necessary.”
He lifted a brow.“Indeed.”
Astara sat back with a huff, determined to cease any further conversation than necessary, and silence filled the interior of the cabin.
When they arrived in the heart of Bond Street, the first stirrings of trepidation started to clench Astara’s heart.Until now, she had merely walked these streets, looking in the windows with longing at the colorful bolts of fabric set on display in the modiste’s window.She would continuously admire the fashionable hats in the millinery store front, doing her best to ignore the condescending glances shot her way by the women who walked by with boxes of the same items she could never hope to afford.And now, here she was, a nobody, a woman without a past and not much hope for a more notable future, and she was walking into the shop she had only dreamed of visiting next to a handsome duke.
Weren’t there fairy tales about this exact scenario?
“Your Grace,” the lady behind the counter greeted with a warm smile.She did not spare a glance for Astara.“Have you come to acquire another new gown for your special friend?”
Astara looked pointedly at her companion.He carefully avoided her gaze.“Not this time, Madame Duvall.We have parted ways.”
Her face fell, likely because of the money she would lose.“Oh, that is a pity.You were so suitably matched.”
The duke cleared his throat.“Indeed.”He waved a hand to include Astara in the conversation.
Without any further need to ignore her presence, the modiste finally glanced at Astara.
“This visit precipitates a high necessity,” said the duke in an emotionless tone.“Miss Smith requires everything a lady should need as a member of theton.Evening gowns, day dresses suitable for an afternoon walk in the park and taking tea and anything that entails.”
The lady’s eyes widened perceptibly as she offered Astara a bit more notice.“You are speaking of an entirely new wardrobe.”She sniffed in apparent disdain as she took in Astara’s serviceable dress.
“The evening dress by tonight.The rest soon after.”
Her mouth went slack.“That is a superb order, Your Grace,” she murmured.“Of course, I can accommodate you, as always, but I shall have to close the shop and shun any further customers?—”
The duke removed several pound notes and handed them out to her.“Do what needs to be done.You will be compensated handsomely for any inconvenience and for the expedited work that your seamstresses will need to do.The rest of the payment shall be offered upon completion and delivery to this address.”He handed her a card, and while the modiste looked as though she was still recovering from her shock, the amount of funds thrust in her direction quickly set her flustered feet in motion.
“Right away, Your Grace!”she exclaimed as she rushed over to lock the door and close the shutters.She grasped Astara’s hand and urged her toward the back room, where she dumped her off with three shocked women who had been sitting around and working on various projects.The modiste clapped her hands together urgently.“Stop what you are doing this instant.We are to focus solely on Miss Smith for the rest of the day.”
The young seamstresses looked stunned at the interruption, but they quickly set into action as various fabrics were tossed toward Astara for the modiste’s review and every single measurement of her body was taken.Or, at least, it seemed that way.
Pins and ribbons and lace were flying and chatter was prevalent all around her while Astara had no choice but to be their mannequin on display.
It seemed as though hours had passed before she was finally allowed time to sit down, but relaxing was apparently not a luxury she was able to have at the moment, because as soon as she was ushered out of the back room, the duke escorted her to more shops along the thoroughfare.She truly had no idea of the quantity of different accessories that a lady required and by the time the day was over, her head was spinning.
She collapsed in the duke’s carriage, uncaring if she slouched.“I never want to endure that again,” she grumbled.
He lifted a brow.“Not even in the service of God and country?”
“In that regard, I shall request a position within the household rather than above stairs.”She patted her hair, feeling more than a little flustered.“Gracious, but does every woman in the upper ten thousand endure this sort of torture all the time?”
“Most of them prefer it.”
She huffed.“Well, I do not.I shall be perfectly content if I never have to suffer through such a thing ever again.”
* * *
Knox could feela smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.He could tell she was visibly overset.But something told him that while choosing between chartreuse or periwinkle ribbons might drive her to distraction, when it came to something truly important, she could be counted upon in a true emergency.
He grudgingly admitted that she was rather entertaining as well.She might not think herself up to the task of engaging in a society setting, but she was gifted with the ability to converse easily.She certainly had no issues voicing her opinions to him, and he was quite certain she would not allow anyone to run over her forcefully.She was capable of holding her own, and he was starting to understand why Scarsdale had decided they could find a particular use for her unique brand of skills.
She patted her hair again and Knox wondered if that was a nervous habit she’d adopted, or if he had been fantasizing about those dark locks, wondering what it would look like tumbling over her shoulders, that he’d invented something that wasn’t present.
He filed that pesky little idea away in his mind as they rolled to a stop in front of her temporary residence.It had been the home he’d shared with his latest mistress, that Madame Duvall had been kind enough to mention in front of Miss Smith, but after they had recently parted ways and he was in between companions, he had offered it to the Lion’s Watch for however long Miss Smith might be in their employ.He wasn’t certain he wanted to gain another headache so soon anyway.Mistresses were generally a boon until they became expensive and needy with their demand for time.Knox did not wish to be tied down just yet, but at eight and twenty years of age, he knew that his clock was ticking quite rapidly.He would eventually have to marry and settle down to satisfy his ducal line.He was trying to stretch out that inevitability later as opposed to sooner, but it was continuing to hang above his head like an axe, ready to fall at any moment.
